The invention concerns a device for bringing connector modules to a crimping post and a station for crimping contacts onto flexible circuits, which is particularly designed for the assembly and creation of flexible circuit bundles provided with connectors.
Flexible circuits are electrical circuits comprising an insulating sheet on which conductive tracks are arranged, these tracks being themselves possibly covered with a second protective insulating sheet.
Such circuits are notably coupled to electrical contacts by a technique of piercing the insulation and crimping, and the use of contacts provided with a crimping end having points arranged in a crown and orientated perpendicularly to the flexible circuit to be coupled is known for this purpose. Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,368 notably describes the creation of contact elements and the coupling of components provided with connection points arranged in a crown.
Contacts are crimped onto the flexible circuit traditionally by positioning the contacts under the flexible circuit facing the conductive tracks of the flexible circuit and then by crimping the contacts onto the flexible circuit. In order to guarantee a correct crimping of the contacts onto the flexible circuit, a correct alignment of the contacts relative to the flexible circuit is desired to guarantee a correct alignment. In particular, for a connector provided with a plurality of contacts, it is desired to guarantee an alignment of the crimping points with the conductive tracks of the flexible circuit and to correctly position the crimping points for example, organized in crowns, relative to crimping matrices.
A crimping process using pins which come to crimp the contacts onto a flexible circuit, for example, is described in the document xe2x80x9cSAE technical paper series 870553 Flex foil crimp technologyxe2x80x94International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Mich., Feb. 23-27, 1987.
The diameter of the crowns and the width of the tracks of the flexible circuit are of the order of a few millimeters for circuits and contacts designed to conduct currents of the order of a few amperes. A great precision in the positioning of the contacts relative to the flexible circuit is therefore desired.
The device which is the subject of the present invention is designed for the preparation of connectors provided with a plurality of contacts in view of their crimping. In this type of connector, the contacts have an end part for coupling to a flexible circuit on one side and an end part for connection with a complementary contact on the other side, the contacts and the flexible circuit being taken up in an insulated housing provided with an open zone that thus releases the zone for crimping the contacts onto the flexible circuit above and below the crimping zone.
In order to crimp the contacts, a device is used that has an anvil, which forms a lower support surface for the electrical contact elements and a mobile pressing device provided with a block whose surface parallel to the plane of alignment of the contacts bears a plurality of crimping matrices.
The flexible circuit is then positioned on the paddles and the block is applied by the press onto the flexible circuit, each of the matrices strongly and locally applying the flexible circuit onto the points so as to pierce the flexible circuit and then to bend the points which thus come to crimp the paddles onto the flexible circuit and bring about the electrical connection between the contacts and the tracks of the flexible circuit.
In view of creating a complete automatic crimping station, the invention proposes creating an automated intake device for these connectors with their pre-mounted contacts.
For this, the invention proposes to create a device for bringing the connector unit modules to the crimping post, the device being provided with a comb positioned at the end of an arm that is in turn joined with a transport device, the comb having teeth for holding and realigning the paddles, the comb forming a component for moving the connector modules.
Thus, simultaneously with the moving of the modules, the paddles provided with crimping points for each contact are pre-positioned both longitudinally and laterally during the transport of the connectors to the crimping post in order to assure a precise alignment between the conductive tracks of the flexible circuit and the crimping crowns.
The invention is particularly designed for connectors of the type provided with a window for release from the crimping zone and is also provided with a holding flap for the flexible circuit in the form of an open frame. The comb is designed to be introduced between the arms of the frame.